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Evans Leaps Into Debate on West Heating Plant

Jack Evans, the longtime Ward 2 city councilmember and Georgetown resident, has jumped into the debate over the disposal of the unused West Heating Plant at the eastern end of K Street. In a flurry of letters to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Dan Tangherlini, the head of the federal General Services Administration, and various appointed city officials, Evans says that while he fully supports “a mixed-use disposition” for the main building, he urges GSA to specify that the adjacent tank farm be dedicated as parkland rather than as a site for new development.

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The Georgetown Dish
The Georgetown Dish

Evans suggests underground parking with the chosen developer “responsible for funding construction and permanent maintenance of the parkland.” This is the path urged by the Friends of the Georgetown Waterfront Park and supported by the Citizens Association of Georgetown and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E.

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The Georgetown Dish
The Georgetown Dish

As previously reported in The Georgetown Dish, however, the main opposition to such limit on development is likely to come from Republicans in the House of Representatives. This was spotlighted at an unusual congressional hearing in June convened in the West Heating Plant itself by the leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The clear, single message from Reps. John Mica of Florida and Jeff Denham of California was that GSA must change its ways and stop dragging its feet and not getting enough value in its disposal of this kind of valuable federal property.

The Georgetown effort is led by Robert vom Eigen and Walter Groszyk on the behalf of the Waterfront Park and CAG, respectively.